When Max Surnow was a kid, his family left Michigan every summer for their cabin in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He and his brother Sam spent days mountain biking at the foot of Sunset Peak and hiking through White River National Forest.
When they made it back to the cabin on Cooper Street, it was time for a family ritual. The brothers loaded up plates with their mom Elaine’s cinnamon chocolate chip cookies (made with their great-great-grandmother’s recipe) and ate them around the fire.
“That’s where we came up with the idea to start a snack business. We were sitting around eating cookies talking about how great they were. As a family, we came up with the name Cooper Street and started spitballing about how we would do it if we could,” Max told The FruitGuys.
Little did the Surnows know that Cooper Street would become a reality, and a decade later their family would make some of The FruitGuys’s favorite healthy snacks for the office. We’re celebrating National Wellness Month by adding their Granola Bakes to all of our Thoughtful Snack Boxes in August 2024 and offering them by the case for office celebrations.
But before we talk more about those Snacks of the Month and what makes them special, let’s get back to Max’s story.
Building a Cookie Company
Max was on summer break from college at Michigan State University when that brainstorming session happened in 2011, and he took it seriously. He brought the first Cooper Street business plan to MSU’s Product Center, which offered free consultations for students.
“I met with somebody to learn about how to generate nutrition facts, learn to buy packaging, and find out about the laws for producing food,” he said.
The next few months were a blur of recipe testing with Elaine and buying massive amounts of eggs at the local warehouse store. Her family cookie recipe was actually for mandel bread—a crispy, crunch cookie reminiscent of biscotti. Elaine put her own spin on it with the guidelines Max learned at MSU. She swapped out ingredients to reduce the sugar, salt, and fat, and fit her family’s healthy lifestyle.
Meanwhile, Max and Sam went all-in on the family business. Max became the CEO running the day-to-day operations and Sam left his career in accounting to handle the numbers.
“We started selling our Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Twice-Baked Cookies at farmers’ markets in 2012. Then, we wanted to see if people would buy our cookies at a grocery store,” Max said. They reached out to Market Square, a neighborhood market where the Surnows had shopped for years. “We told them that we had this idea and they said, ‘Of course, we’ll give you a shot. Come in and do a demo or sampling, and if it does well we’ll keep buying the cookies.’ They’ve been buying them ever since.”
A New Direction: Healthy Granola Bakes
By 2015, Cooper Street had its own bakery and a lineup of twice-baked cookies in flavors like Cherry White Chunk and Lemon Blueberry. Thanks to Elaine’s updates, the cookies were certified kosher and dairy-, soy-, and trans fat-free, without any artificial ingredients. But they all had the same light, crunchy texture—and the Surnows wanted to try something different.
They came up with Granola Bakes: healthy snacks for the office that are a grab-and-go alternative to oatmeal.
“Our No. 1 focus was health and taste. We wanted it to eat like a cookie and taste like a wholesome product you’d bake at your house,” Max said.
The soft and chewy bakes are packed with healthy ingredients like rolled oats, buckwheat, chia and flax seeds, and protein-rich quinoa. They’re also loaded with local Michigan fruits. The Surnows buy blueberries, cherries, and cranberries from local farms like Shoreline Fruit in Northern Michigan—and they don’t skimp on them.
“You wouldn’t cheat yourself on the amount of chocolate and blueberries if you were making something homemade, would you?” Max said.
In 2018, Cooper Street’s Granola Bakes officially hit the market. And this August, The FruitGuys is proud to offer the Oatmeal Cranberry and Blueberry Pomegranate flavors as our Snacks of the Month. They’re the perfect National Wellness Month treat for employees.
Not only are the bakes healthy and convenient, but every purchase supports a woman- and family-owned company that gives back.
Buy a Bake, Help a Child
Cooper Street is a family-owned business, but the Surnows aren’t the only ones who benefit when they sell a Granola Bake or cookie. They also partner with local nonprofits like the Michigan branches of The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Make-A-Wish. They donate funds, sponsor events, and hand out free bakes and cookies to parents and kids.
“Make-A-Wish has always been near and dear to my family—we’ve always supported the nonprofit, donated, or sponsored events,” Max said.
As a kid, Max participated in the Wish-A-Mile Bicycle Tour, a three-day, 300-mile bike trip across southwest Michigan that raised funds for children with critical illnesses.
“I did it with family members and made some of the best memories of my life,” he said. “…The fact that we founded this company and it has grown enough to have the ability to donate and continue that work from a corporate standpoint is pretty cool.”
If you’d like to support Cooper Street and give your team a nutrition boost with their healthy snacks for the office, check out our Thoughtful Snack Box, which will feature Cooper Street all August. You can also order Granola Bakes by the case during National Wellness Month.
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